amar212

Steering wheel controllers have come a long ways over the past few years, and with Logitech reducing their involvement in the sim-racing accessory market, competition has picked up between higher-end manufacturers like Thrustmaster and Fanatec.

On Sunday, December 23, 2012, Gran Turismo celebrates its 15th anniversary. First released on the PlayStation Console in Japan on December 23, 1997, the series has revolutionized the gaming industry, the automotive industry, and changed quite a few lives along the way.

GT series guru Amar212 has managed to unlock Gran Turismo 5’s upcoming DLC, and has shared the very first hands-on videos of Spa Francorchamps on behalf of GTPlanet and his own Croatian GT community, GTSurgeons. Amar is documenting his discoveries here in our forums, and I’ll continue updating this blog post as he goes over all the new content.

Amar212, infamous GT insider and founder of Croatian fan-site GT Surgeons, finally has his hands on a copy of Gran Turismo 5! Instead of sharing pictures or videos, though, he’s focused on providing hard-core fans with all the details in a comprehensive and thorough review of the game. This review isn’t about comparing it to other racers or whether or not the title is worth your money – it’s a detailed study of how each new feature in GT5 actually works and how the gameplay unfolds.

Jokes were made when our inside man, amar212, first mentioned a track editor coming to GT5 more than a year ago. Today, he gets the last laugh, as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, has confirmed “track creating and sharing”, “go-karting”, and a “weather system” is coming to the game in an interview posted directly on the official PlayStation UK website. Here’s the relevant portion of the article:

Gran Turismo 5 has been listed on Amazon.com for a long time now, but a very interesting new product was just added to Amazon’s French site: Gran Turismo 5 “Edition Spéciale”. Although no other information is provided on the site, as you compare the regular version with the “Special Edition“, you’ll notice prices of €65.99 and €74.95, respectively – a 13% increase.

Since our own insider Amar212 first hinted that a track editor would be included in Gran Turismo 5, it’s something that many people, including myself, have approached with too-good-to-be-true trepidation. As we’ve learned more about the game, both Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital’s quickly-pulled web site posting have neglected to mention anything about what would be an incredible new feature. As a result, it’s dropped off the radar for most fans.

The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place!  Heavy rumors about the PSP2 were just released today by gaming site 1UP, and Gran Turismo Mobile popped up on their radar.   Hardware details will remain sketchy until the system is announced at E3, but we do know that the original PSP’s UMD media format will be dropped in favor of software downloads.  From 1UP’s article:

Earlier today, Amar212 dropped an odd bombshell on the GTPlanet Forums, posting a cryptic message full of hidden details about Gran Turismo 5.  Before you continue, have a look at Amar’s post for yourself.  It’s an exciting, well-crafted read that you are sure to enjoy.  If you’re still lost, keep reading for our careful analysis of each main point – and why you should believe them…